Job Description

As one of the nation’s most trusted and highest-rated nonprofits, the American Kidney Fund fights kidney disease on all fronts for more than 35 million Americans—no other organization has a more comprehensive approach or makes a greater direct impact on patients’ lives. As Senior Director of Digital Marketing, you’ll shape how patients, caregivers, and supporters engage with AKF’s mission through a modern digital presence designed for the future of how people connect and give online. AKF is financially strong, with no reliance on federal funding, and makes strategic investments that keep the organization at the forefront of how nonprofits use technology to bring life-changing information, support, and inspiration to those who need it most.

This is a hands-on, high-impact role for a data-savvy leader who thrives on innovation, collaboration, and execution. You'll be highly visible across the organization, regularly interacting with the CEO, executive team, peers in other departments, and external partners, to align digital strategies with goals in fundraising, programs, and advocacy.

Reporting to the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, you will lead a high-performing team of four (growing to a team of six) and oversee a digital program that brings together paid media, social media, SEO, and web strategy into a unified approach. You will collaborate closely with the Senior Directors of Brand Marketing and Communications to ensure digital strategy is seamlessly integrated with content, creative, public relations, and storytelling efforts. You will also lead AKF’s next major website redesign, ensuring the platform reflects best practices in AI-powered search, user-centered design, accessibility, and discoverability.

The ideal candidate is an enthusiastic, people-first leader with proven ability to develop and empower teams, and a forward-thinking web strategist with a deep understanding of how AI and emerging technologies are transforming digital engagement.

How You’ll Make an Impact

Working closely with colleagues across communications, development, advocacy, and programs, you’ll design digital experiences that strengthen AKF’s connection with patients, donors, partners, and advocates. Initial focus areas include:

• Driving performance across AKF’s digital advertising portfolio. Oversee a comprehensive paid digital advertising program, including more than 30 corporate-funded campaigns and initiatives, with strategic and tactical support from the associate director of digital marketing.
• Guiding the strategy and execution of AKF’s next website redesign. Oversee the 2026 project from RFP development and vendor selection through internal stakeholder work and project launch. Ensure the new site is built with UX and accessibility top of mind, with a focus on integrating AI capabilities and modern user engagement opportunities.
• Leading and developing a high-performing team. Provide direction, mentorship, and growth opportunities for a talented team of four that will grow to six in 2026.
• Contributing to organization-wide initiatives that modernize how AKF works. Support the implementation of a Digital Asset Management system to improve how content is organized and delivered. Collaborate with leadership to plan digital integration of upcoming brand changes informed by a brand study now underway.

Work Environment, Salary, and Benefits

• You'll enjoy a hybrid work schedule with an average of 1-4 days per month in our North Bethesda, MD, office. Candidates from Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia will be considered. Occasional out-of-town travel may be required (less than 5%).
• The budgeted salary range for this position is $175K - $185K plus bonus potential. AKF offers comprehensive benefits, including a matching 403b retirement plan, health, dental, vision, and life insurance, short- and long-term disability, flex spending, and generous leave.
• Additional perks include paid underground parking or Metro subsidies, employee-led recognition and social events throughout the year, and shorter workdays on Fridays.
• You’ll be part of a collaborative, fast-moving, mission-driven, and national award-winning communications and marketing team that values creativity, strategy, and innovation.

Responsibilities

Digital Strategy & Integration

• Develop and lead a comprehensive, future-ready digital strategy that aligns with organizational goals in fundraising, programs, advocacy, and audience growth.
• Ensure the digital ecosystem reflects best-in-class UX, AI-driven site architecture, and compliance with evolving Google experience standards.
• Guide the strategic use of AI, automation, and predictive analytics to optimize user journeys and content discoverability.
• Collaborate across departments to unify messaging, timing, and impact across all digital campaigns.

Website Leadership & Redesign

• Oversee all aspects of web strategy, including site architecture, performance, UX, accessibility, and analytics.
• Lead a major website redesign initiative, ensuring full integration of AI-powered tools and next-generation user behavior trends.
• Supervise the Webmaster/Director of SEO and manage external web vendors and consultants.
• Play a key role in AKF’s 2026 implementation of a Digital Asset Management system.

Paid Digital Advertising & SEO

• Lead paid digital advertising strategy across search, social, display, and programmatic.
• Plan and oversee campaign development, creative direction, testing, and optimization in support of programmatic and advocacy goals.
• Work closely with the Development and Programs departments on cultivating and executing corporate-sponsored health education campaigns.
• Oversee the organization’s SEO strategy, with a focus on structure, content optimization, and search discoverability in both traditional and AI-driven search environments.
• Supervise the Associate Director of Digital Marketing and related vendor relationships.

Social Media (Organic & Paid)

• Oversee strategy and execution for both organic and paid social media, ensuring channel-specific goals are met across platforms, including Meta, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and others.
• Partner with the Senior Director of Brand Marketing to ensure brand voice, storytelling, and visual identity are carried consistently across all channels.
• Oversee and mentor the organization’s two social media managers to further develop and standardize AKF’s social voice and to develop channel-tailored, video-centric, social-first content.
• Monitor trends and platform shifts, optimizing performance and engagement through testing, analytics, and AI-enhanced tools.

Collaboration & Team Leadership

• Serve as a collaborative thought partner to senior leadership and programmatic teams across AKF.
• Triage and prioritize requests across departments to ensure high-impact work is delivered in a fast-paced, lean environment.
• Provide day-to-day guidance and long-term development opportunities for a small, high-performing digital team.
• Foster a team culture of innovation, accountability, and empathy, supporting team members at all stages of professional growth.
• Regularly present strategic recommendations and performance results to the CCMO and the rest of the Executive Team.

Qualifications

• 7–10 years of progressive experience in digital marketing and strategy, with at least 3–5 years of direct leadership responsibility for teams and cross-functional initiatives, ideally in a nonprofit or mission-focused environment.
• Demonstrated success leading organization-wide web strategy and redesign efforts, including AI readiness, search optimization, and management of complex stakeholder needs.
• Expertise across paid digital advertising, paid and organic social media, SEO, and user experience.
• Familiarity with AI-informed search, chat-based interfaces, and next-generation content delivery.
• Strong understanding of generative engine optimization (GEO) and other search landscape trends.
• Experience collaborating across communications, marketing, and other teams (such as fundraising, advocacy, and programs) to achieve shared goals.
• Demonstrated successful experience in developing and managing budgets.
• Experience selecting and managing digital vendors and agencies, particularly in web development and paid media.
• Excellent interpersonal, collaboration, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated success in mentoring and developing digital professionals at varying levels of experience.
• Proficiency with CMS platforms (e.g., Drupal, WordPress) and analytics and marketing tools such as GA4, Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, and SEMrush.
• Experience working with or adjacent to healthcare or pharmaceutical industry audiences is a plus.

About AKF

AKF's vision is a world without kidney disease. Until that day comes, we believe that every kidney patient should have access to health care, and every person at risk for kidney disease should be empowered to prevent it. Ninety-six cents of every dollar we spend goes to patients and programs. One of the nation's highest-rated nonprofit organizations, AKF has held Charity Navigator's highest 4-star rating for over 20 years running and holds the Candid (formerly GuideStar) Platinum Seal of Transparency.

Staffing Advisors is committed to reducing bias in every aspect of the hiring process. We have long recommended a competency-driven approach to hiring. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. We encourage you to apply even if your experience is not a 100% match with the position description; we will consider people from a variety of backgrounds and career experiences.

Job Tags

Similar Jobs